


Remus Lupin has his Shit Together

by mssr_moony



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Bottom Sirius Black, F/M, Fluff, Gay Sirius Black, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, POV Remus Lupin, Pregnant Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Teacher Remus Lupin, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Top Remus Lupin, Trans Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-11-08 07:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17976578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mssr_moony/pseuds/mssr_moony
Summary: Remus John Lupin has his shit together. It might not look like it sometimes, but he does. He has his shit together enough to deal with a new job and a new custody agreement of his son. He has his shit together enough to make friends with the cheerful James Potter and to give his number to the gorgeous Sirius Black. Life was good.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! its been forever since I wrote a full honest to god fic and I missed it sm. ive had the idea for this one for a while but had no motivation to write, but I had some time today and just whacked out the first 4k bc that's the only way I can write apparently.
> 
> I do have some free time atm, so I should be able to post fairly regularly (maybe twice a month) but I cant promise anything bc college and work and all that. 
> 
> also im cowriting another fic which im p excited about - its an original universe fic that basically fixe everything wrong with ootp onwards. idk when that's gonna get posted but look out for it. 
> 
> thank you guys for reading ur the best

Remus John Lupin has his shit together. At least, that's what he tells himself every morning when he washes his face in front of his cracked bathroom mirror. It's what he tells himself as he downs his coffee (milk, one sugar) from his favourite mug (yellow, red handle). It's what he tells himself when he wakes up from yet another nightmare, or can't stop his leg from shaking when he finds himself at the doctor’s office for the third time that year. But he does. He has his shit together. The bags under his eyes have faded from desperately exhausted to just a bit tired, and his scars are just that - scars, fully healed over. So, it's not a surprise that Remus feels optimistic as he opens the door to his office on the first day of his new job. His hair is as neat as it gets, and his beard is a length that could only be called professional. This, along with his tweed jacket, elbow patches, and copper rimmed glasses make for a well-respected teacher, ready to pass on his knowledge to his students. His office is small, but Remus didn't have much to put in it anyway. From his bag, he unloads a melange of textbooks and diaries, an old coffee can filled with pens, and a fraying mousepad displaying the image of a wolf howling at a full moon. After setting up his few belongings, he turned on his computer, pushed his glasses from the top of his head to his nose, and concentrated.

* * *

 

"So, while dystopian fiction is an increasingly wide genre, there are various themes and motifs that occur frequently. We'll be studying two books in detail for this course, but you will need to draw knowledge of other texts from your own wider reading. Now, who can tell me any common dystopic themes?" Remus was stood at the front of a decent-sized classroom. First period, thankfully, was a sixth form class, and they all seemed at least vaguely interested in what he was saying. Following his question, at least ten hands shot up, and he was glad to learn that his students knew what they were talking about. For the next hour, he tried to keep discussion flowing - it was the first lesson of the academic year and he knew the class would appreciate an hour just to chat, rather than the gruelling task of making notes. He found it easier than expected to keep the conversation on track.

"Right," he said in response to a question, "that's actually a really good question. You do need to have some knowledge of recent and historical events because some of your exam questions have an emphasis on context." The last ten minutes of the lesson was spent discussing the relevance of Stalin's Russia, and maybe Remus' grin was a little out of place but it had gone well. His very first lesson had been a success - he deserved a smile.

After second lesson (excitable year 7s) and third (tired year 11s), Remus headed back to his office for lunch. It was an unusually warm September day, so he opened the window to allow in a breeze. Removing his jacket, he slung it across the back of his chair and threw himself down on it. Coffee. That’s what he needed. He had considered bringing his kettle from home, but had decided against it because he really didn’t fancy carrying it with him on the bus; he was regretting that decision now. He allowed himself another minute of quiet, before pulling himself up and trudging out of his office and towards the staff room. The hallways were covered in various displays, advertising fairs and showcasing students’ work. He stopped for a second when a particularly bright display caught his eye, and barely had the time to read any of the poems on display before he sensed a presence next to his right shoulder.

“Uh… Hi?” _Well done, Lupin. Real eloquent._ Thankfully, the other man didn’t appear perturbed.

“You must be the new English teacher Minnie’s been going on about.” The man had a friendly sort of smile that made Remus want to keep this conversation up – that didn’t happen very often.

“Yeah, uh – Remus. Lupin.” He said, offering his hand to the other man to shake.

“Potter. James Potter. License to… Teach sport, I guess.” So, this guy was funny, too. Remus was starting to feel a little out of his depth.

“So,” James said, when Remus failed to reply, “I was just heading to the staff room, you coming?” James pointed a thumb over a shoulder, still smiling that boyish grin.

“Yeah, sure. I’d kill for a coffee.” James’ smile widened even further at that, clapping a hand to Remus’ shoulder, and leading the way to the land of free coffee.

During lunch hour, Remus found out more about James than he thought it was possible to in such a short time frame. He was married, and had a two-year-old son. His wife (Lily), was ginger, Welsh, and very pregnant. His parents were wealthy and had made their fortune creating and selling organic hair products designed solely for Afro-Caribbean hair. Their cat, Marmalade, was missing one leg, and was consistently finding herself stuck in the next-door neighbour’s pond. James’ best friend was short, French, and disowned ( _“and single, if you’re looking”_ ). James was just retelling the story of how he had gotten his nickname (it seemed to have involved a deer, and a _lot_ of vodka) when the bell had rung, signifying the end of lunch.

“Well, Lupin, see you tomorrow. I’ll make sure to mention you to Sirius.” Remus just blushed and waved him off in response, speed-walking back to his office to pick up what he needed for his afternoon lessons. Once those lessons were over and done with, he couldn’t help that think that, as first days go, this one wasn’t bad at all.

The bus home was quiet – he took the 4:30 bus to avoid the onslaught of students. He liked taking the bus. It gave him time to think, and watch the world go past. Right now, the bus was idling at a bus stop, allowing a small queue of people to enter. The third person in the queue was a young man – perhaps nineteen years old – with dark skin and crazy dark hair that stuck up in every direction. Underneath the hair was an oddly shaped scar that Remus thought looked like a bolt of lightning stretching from his eyebrow to his hairline. He was dressed fairly conservatively – red jumper with a mustard collar, faded blue jeans, white converse – and yet his bag betrayed the whole ‘boy scout look’. A satchel, Remus thought made from corduroy, covered in various badges and held together by an exorbitant number of safety pins. On receiving his bus ticket, he smiled and said thank you to the driver.

When Remus got home, he kicked off his shoes and chucked them into the cupboard under the stairs. When the cupboard door refused to shut properly, he spent the next quarter of an hour crouched on the floor with a screwdriver. He only stood up again because his efforts proved futile. For dinner, Remus ate a can of cream of vegetable soup with buttered bread and a glass of water. Then, he showered, got changed, brushed his teeth, and got into bed; it was half past ten. Because Remus John Lupin had his shit together. No matter what anyone else said.

* * *

 

The next day was a Wednesday, and Remus woke up in such a good mood that he decided to take a detour on the way to work. There was a bakery one street over from his bus stop that he had noticed before, but had never thought of actually going there. The bell jingled when he opened the door, and the man behind the counter looked almost surprised to see him.

“Alright, mate?” The man asked. Remus noticed his accent was French, but it was soft, as though he had been living in the U.K. for a long time.

“Yeah, hi.” Remus smiled. The café had the kind of aura that left him feeling warm and welcomed. There were naked lightbulbs floating from the ceiling, shelves full of books on the walls, and a faded blue radio playing quiet jazz.

“What can I get for you?” Remus looked at the chalkboard behind his head, eyes flicking through the overwhelming variety of hot drinks and snacks.

“I’ll uh… I’ll get a tea, please. And one of those lemon muffins – no, blueberry. Blueberry muffin.” The man laughed, and replied with a nod, moving away from the counter to fetch his order.

“That’ll be £1.85.” He said once he had returned. Remus frowned – that was the price of the muffin alone.

“What about the tea?” He asked.

“Ah,” he replied, with the air of a man who liked a layer of mystery, “first customer of the day. Free drink.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. You want this to go?”

“Uh, yeah actually. I gotta get to work.” Remus said, looking at his watch.

“Highbourne Secondary, right?” Remus narrowed his eyes, panic shooting through his stomach. He’d been working there _one day_ , how did he-

“Don’t look so worried.” The man replied laughing. “You work with James, right? He’s my best friend. He mentioned there was a new teacher. Tall as fuck, wears tweed, hipster glasses, curly hair. Reckoned there couldn’t be too many fitting that description in the area.”

Remus’ shock died down, and he founded himself laughing in relief.

“Let me guess – Sirius?” The man – Sirius – nodded in return, offering a hand over the counter for Remus to shake it.

“So, what did James tell you about me?”

“Pretty much just that you were short, French, and single.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Remus laughed at that, out of nerves if nothing else. He checked his watch again.

“Shit. I really should head off. Can’t really be late on my second day.” Sirius agreed, passing his muffin and tea over the counter. Remus had just opened his mouth to say goodbye, when Sirius spoke.

“Before you go can I,” Sirius chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “can I have your number?”

Remus faltered. Sirius was an attractive man, there was no doubting it. And five years ago, Remus might have _jumped_ at the chance of something with him. But this wasn’t five years ago. Even having just met Sirius, Remus knew that he deserved more than an anxious insomniac with not even enough money to pay this month’s rent. All that, on top of the fact that he was HIV positive. What a fucking catch. But Remus had his shit together – he _did_. So, he took a pen from his breast pocket, and scribbled his number onto the scrap of paper that Sirius had slid across the counter to him.

“See you around, Remus.”

“Bye, Sirius.” He said, waving slightly as he left, his heart pounding.

 

* * *

 

“Wait, you met him? You met Remus?” James said, shocked, as he sipped on a hazelnut coffee in the backroom of Sirius’ café. It was late on a Tuesday, and when Sirius had called him and asked him to come, he had done so immediately.

“Why do you sound so upset by that? Thought you _wanted_ us to meet.”

“Yeah,” James whined, “but I wanted to set you guys up! So I could come to your wedding and tell everyone that it was me.”

“Well, tough, Jamie.” Sirius replied, leaning forward on his elbows. “I guess fate just wanted this to happen more than you did.”

“Fuck fate! Fuck the universe!” James exclaimed, dramatic as ever, eyes crinkling in a grin as Sirius burst out laughing.

“James you are _married._ Stay away from fate.”

“Oh, um. On the subject,” James said, face suddenly serious. “I kinda have something to tell you.” Sirius’ face broke out into an ecstatic smile before James had even finished.

“No shit!” He jumped up from his seat, hands clasped behind his head. “Lily’s pregnant?” James nodded in response, smile equally as wide, and laughed as Sirius rounded the table and hugged hi tightly, ending up sat in his lap.

“You did always have a weird way of guessing what’s on my mind.”

“Because you’re shit at hiding things from me, Jamie.” Sirius said, his arms still around James’ neck. “But really. I’m so so happy for you guys.”

“Thanks, Pads."

 

* * *

 

Remus had just locked the front door behind him when his phone started buzzing. He had stayed at school late that day – somehow, he had a whole pile of marking already, and the desk in his office was bigger than the one he had at home. Sighing, he kicked his shoes off, not bothering this time with the door, and answered his phone.

“Remus!” Came a very excited voice from the other end of the call.

“Guessing this is Sirius, then?”

“Who else sounds this fabulous?” Remus heard a whoosh, like Sirius was plonking himself down on a sofa.

“Probably Freddie Mercury. When he was alive.”

“You make a strong point there, Rems. Also honoured to be compared to him.”

“Legend.”

“Mm.” Sirius sounded as though there was something on the tip of his tongue, something that was apparently very very exciting.

“Come on, then. What’s got you in a tizz?”

“James is pregnant!” Sirius squealed down the phone, so loud that Remus had to move the phone away from his ear a little.

“James? Didn’t know he had a va-”

“Ew. Gross. I meant his wife – Lily.”

“I know, I know. That’s so cool, though! You gonna be godfather?” Remus asked.

“Probably not. I’m already godfather to their other kid.”

“Harry, right?”

“Yeah, He’s a sweet kid.”

“Mm, he sounds it.”

“But anyway, yeah, they’ll probably choose someone else. Maybe Reg, or Frank.” Sirius sounded like the smile he had started the call with hadn’t left his face.

“Reg? Your brother?”

“Yeah. He’s only a year younger than me so he always hung out with us when we were at school. He and James still get on really well.”

At some point during the call, Remus had moved to his kitchen/dining room/living room and was now sprawled across the sofa. When he ended the call, the clock read that it was gone half nine, and Remus swore when he realised how much he had crumpled his clothes. Standing up, he tried his best to straighten out any wrinkles, and headed over to the kitchen. It was too late for a proper dinner, but he knew his stomach would hate him later if he ate nothing at all, so he boiled the kettle and wolfed down some tea and too many biscuits, before heading over to his bedroom. Before he went to sleep that night, he found himself sending a quick text to Sirius.

 _SENT 10:03pm:_ didn’t have time for dinner, twat. you owe me.

 _RECEIVED 10:11pm:_ promise i’ll make it up to u ;)

Remus smiled, refusing to acknowledge his blush – it was dark anyway, nobody needed to know. For the first time in what felt like forever, he fell asleep easily.

The rest of the week seemed to speed by in a blur of lessons, suggestive texting, and teasing from James. He found himself getting up half an hour earlier every morning so that he could pop into Sirius’ café before catching the bus to work. One day, the pair had been so caught up in chatting that Remus had missed his bus, and Sirius had insisted on giving him a lift in. On his motorbike. It was fair to say that Remus hadn’t been that turned on since he was a teenager. It was also fair to say that he was having a bit of a crisis concerning this ridiculously attractive man that had crashed into his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more domestic shit because I realised that I didn't have aplan for this so yknow. fluff. if anyone has any ideas for where you want this to go feel free to comment or dm me on ig (@moriarteaspoon),, I promise this fic is going somewhere, I just need to figure it out lmao. also im super super busy atm with college and i'm starting a new job this week so I have 0 time,, so the next chapter should be up in the next two weeks but pls don't kill me if not. 
> 
>  
> 
> also - basically I wanted to make Sirius trans in this fic bc ive read various fics before where he is and I really like that dynamic. i id as transmasc, but im not a trans guy so I don't wanna assume shit. but I don't rly feel comfy writing smut scenes/anything with dysphoria bc I don't fully understand and I wanna make sure I write it right. so basically if anyones reading this and is trans and would like to help me figure out how to write him that would be rly great.

Come Saturday, Remus was so used to his routine that he found himself walking towards the café at 8am. When he got there, however, the café had a sign reading _Closed_ displayed on the front door. Shit.

_SENT 7:58am:_ not opening the café today?

Remus didn’t have to wait long for a response.

_RECEIVED 8:01am:_ shit. forgot to tell u i don’t open til 9 on weekends

_RECEIVED 8:02am:_ didn’t think u wld be up this early tbh

_SENT 8:05am:_ oh. I feel like a bit of an idiot now

_RECEIVED 8:13am:_ ur not an idiot rems. leaving now – be there in 10

“Alright?” Sirius said, offering a hand to Remus, who was sat in the porch of the café. Remus accepted the hand gratefully, pulling himself up with all the grace of a 70-year-old arthritic man. The floor was fucking _cold_ , okay? He was 27! That was young.

“Bit cold. Guess you kept your promise, though?”

“Huh?” Sirius said, unlocking the door before shoving it open with a shoulder.

“You said you’d make it up to me, and you have. Giving up your Saturday lie-in.” Remus said, following him into the café. It wasn’t much warmer than it was outside, and Sirius seemed to notice that as well, because after turning the lights on he headed straight for the heater at the back of the kitchen. Remus looked around, and couldn’t help but smile at the personal touches that adorned the kitchen. There was a pinboard containing weekly shift rotas that had a picture of Sirius and Harry pinned to the bottom-left corner. The heater had a melange of stickers across it – Star Wars, dinosaurs, and squirrels were just a few of the guests.

“Nice stickers.” Remus commented as Sirius led him back to the kitchen where he started flicking on various machines, filling the room with different hums and beeps.

“Ha, yeah. Gift from Harry. Apparently, he decided I just absolutely needed them.”

“Sounds like a cool kid. I need someone to get me some stickers.”

“Good thing you met me, then.” Sirius replied, pulling two mugs from a shelf beneath the counter. “I’ve always got some lying around. You want planets, wolves, or flowers?”

Remus pretended to consider for a moment, then asked for the wolf ones – they’d look good on his planner.

“Tea or coffee?”

“Coffee, please. Milk, one sugar.” Remus perched himself on the counter, accepting a warm mug from Sirius. He took a sip, and _fuck you, Sirius – you don’t get to be hot, and funny, and make good coffee._

“Up to your standards, your highness?” Remus waved him off and muttered something about it being _perfectly acceptable, thank you very much._

“So, any plans for today? Except ridding me of my lie-in?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, actually. My son’s here for the week, so I gotta set up some stuff up. He lives with his mum,” Remus clarified.

“Oh, nice. I’d offer to help you out, but, y’know. Gotta serve my adoring public.” Sirius said, flicking his hair somewhat dramatically. “What’s he like?”

“He’s great. He’s a really great kid. Super clever, really into music. Boisterous as they come, but once he gets his head in a book he’s lost to the world. I’ve got a full bookshelf for his stuff.”

“How old is he? Maybe he’d get on with Harry.”

“Ah, Teddy’s nine. He loves kids though.” Remus said. “Dora – my ex – she’s got another kid now, he’s three. Teddy never shuts up about him.”

“That’s adorable.” Sirius said, then, hesitating, added: “What happened with your ex?”

“Eh, it wasn’t anything dramatic.” Remus took a sip of his coffee. “We got together when we were sixteen – I hadn’t even come out back then. But yeah, she got pregnant when we were nineteen and like – well, it was a surprise, obviously. But we were good together, and we thought we could do it.” Remus took a breath to steady himself – Teddy was fine now, but it still hurt to talk about what had happened. “He was born 5 weeks early. There were complications, and he nearly didn’t make it. He was so _small._ Dora was in the hospital for, what – two months maybe? It was really hard, she had to drop out of uni, and I nearly did too, but – Yeah, anyway. He got better, but we realised that this shit was nowhere near as easy as we thought it’d be. She moved back in with her parents, I got my degree.”

“’Nothing dramatic’.” Sirius said, using air quotes. Remus chuckled ruefully.

“Yeah, that’s uh – that’s not the dramatic bit.” Sirius indicated for him to continue.

“I wasn’t, um, wasn’t really the best dad for the first few years there. I hadn’t been single since I was fifteen, hadn’t had any chance to consider that maybe I wasn’t straight. So, I was an idiot. I went out too much – Dora didn’t trust me enough to look after him by myself. I, uh,” Now for the hard bit. “I’m HIV positive. Got diagnosed when Teddy was two, so seven years ago, now. Bit of a wake-up call. So, I got my shit together, went back to school and got qualified to teach. Me and Dora are still friends, and I have Teddy for a week every month.”

Sirius nodded, looking thoughtful, which Remus thought was better at least than him asking him to leave – he could never gauge people’s reactions. And then Sirius did something that Remus really wasn’t expecting.

“I’m trans. If we’re getting deal-breakers out of the way now, I thought I should – Yeah.” Remus narrowed his eyes, confused.

“Why would that be a deal-breaker?” He asked.

“It is for some people.” Sirius shrugged, acting like that wasn’t a big deal. The question in his eyes told Remus that it was, in fact.

“Well, then, they’re arsewipes.” Remus said, simply. Having not expected such an answer, Sirius found himself cackling in response, half out of relief, and half out of amusement. Arsewipes.

“Just so you know,” he said, once he had calmed down, “your thing isn’t a deal-breaker either. Long as you’re careful.”

Remus scoffed – like that was a question.

By the time Remus actually left the café, it was full of customers, and he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Sirius properly for at least an hour. Catching his eye over the till, he signalled to Sirius that he was leaving with a wave and a smile. Sirius replied by blowing him a kiss, and Remus did _not_ blush as he opened the door to leave.

When he got home, he sighed as a wave of something akin to guilt hit him. Looking around his small apartment, he suddenly felt sad that he couldn’t provide more for his son. His selfish years had cost him much, and he wouldn’t mind so much if it didn’t have such a profound effect on Teddy. Indeed, he was better now – he had a job and a steady wage, there was no alcohol to be found in his apartment, and his therapist seemed optimistic that he was doing well. He took his meds every day, and made sure that his meals were not only filling, but healthy – he had his shit together. And yet, when Teddy visited, he slept on the sofa because his flat only had one bedroom. Before he went to bed that night, Remus began searching for small houses in the area to rent.

Remus had an alarm set for 8am the next morning, but as it turned out, he needn’t have set it, because come 7:32am, his phone was ringing loudly. Grumbling, he rolled over in bed and blindly pressed the _answer_ button.

“Sirius, I swear to fuck-”

“Firstly, you are on _speaker_ , and my two-year-old son is present, so watch your damn language. And second, it’s James.”

“Ah, sorry, Prongs.” Remus muttered sleepily. “What’s up?”

“’M cooking a roast. Lily has a weird craving for Yorkshires – _what, Lil? It’s true!_ – yeah, Lils has weird cravings, so I’m cooking. Fancy it?”

“Mm, god, yeah. You’re doing potatoes, right?”

“Rems. It’s a roast. Of course I’m doing potatoes.”

“Wait, fuck,” Remus swore, slapping a hand to his forehead. “Teddy – my son – he’s over today.”

“So? Bring him! More the merrier and all that.” James said cheerily.

“You know what – that sounds perfect. What time?”

“Um… One sec – _Lily, what time do we want Remus?”_ With the last sentence, Remus winced, moving the phone away from his ear. Ouch. “How’s twelve-thirty?”

“Mm good. My ears might have stopped ringing by then.”

“Ha. Sorry.” James replied sheepishly. “Ah fuc- Fudge. I said fudge. Look mate, I gotta go, Harry’s trying to stick frozen peas up his nose.”

“Good luck!” Remus replied, laughing, and hung up the phone.

Remus hauled himself out of bed and towards the shower. His mind was filled – as per usual, apparently – with thoughts of dark hair and grey eyes, clever hands adorned with rings, and French accents. He almost felt guilty when his body reacted to these kind of thoughts, and yet any feelings except _fuck yes_ left his head as he lowered his hand. Leaning his opposite forearm against the shower wall for support, he stroked himself gently, the sound of running water covering up any gasps or groans he might have let out. All he could think of was Sirius. Sirius, cupping his face and kissing him softly. Biting his neck gently with his hands on his hips. Underneath him as they moved together. Sirius, with him in the shower, back against the tiles as Remus touched him all over and–

Remus grunted softly as he came, then just stood there for a second, waiting for his breath to come back to him. Fuck. Time to get ready.

Three hours later, Remus was just giving his flat one last look over when he heard a knock on the door – five quick taps, then two louder ones. He straightened his jumper, an opened the door to a smiling Dora, and a very happy looking Teddy.

“Papa!” He squealed, and Remus crouched to pull him into his arms when he ran forward.

“He might be a little excited – pancakes for breakfast.” Dora said, depositing Teddy’s tiny backpack onto the small table next to the door. “Sorry about that.”

Remus replied that it was no trouble at all, then gently placed Teddy back on the floor. Grabbing his bag, he ran straight for Remus’ room, no doubt to mess up his dad’s neatly made bed.

“How are you doing, Rems?” Dora asked, hugging him quickly.

“Yeah, uh, not bad. Job’s going good. Really good.” He amended.

“Not drowned in marking yet?”

“It was a near thing.” Remus rubbed the back of his neck. “Made some pretty good friends there, too.”

“Told you.” Dora smirked.

“Yeah, I- Actually, one of them’s invited us for Sunday lunch. I can say no if you’re not happy, but they’re good people, and they’ve got a son too–”

“Remus.” Dora stopped him. “You don’t need to ask permission to do anything with him. He’s your son, too. Unless you’re planning on packing up and moving to Canada or something.”

“Yeah,” Remus laughed, “that’s not happening any time soon. I’d need like, a million jumpers to combat the snow.”

Dora laughed. Remus still liked making her do that – it was a pretty sound. He was distracted from any more nostalgic thoughts when Teddy came running back in, clutching a piece of paper.

“Papa, papa! I got a B!” Teddy said, excitedly, offering the paper – a story, it seemed – to Remus. From a quick scan, Remus could tell it told the tale of the month prior, when he had taken Teddy to the park to feed the ducks (although they seemed to feed more pigeons than anything else. Fucking sky-rats.).

“That’s amazing, sweetheart. That’s going right on the wall of fame.” By which Remus meant the fridge door, which was decorated with each and every story or drawing that Teddy had gifted him. He loved every single one.

“Hey, baby,” Dora said, crouching to Teddy’s height. “Mummy’s gotta go, come give me a cuddle.” Teddy wrapped his arms around her for a moment, then let go, going back to running around the house with the sort of energy that only those under ten years old seemed to have.

“See you later, Dora.”

“I’ll be back Saturday night,” she said, handing him a larger back containing Teddy’s clothes, school stuff, and Wolfy (the teddy that he wouldn’t go anywhere without). “Call me tomorrow?”

“Of course.” He said, hugging her quickly, before waving her out of the door.

“Hey, buddy,” Remus called out, scanning the small space to find Teddy sat at the foot of the bookshelf, immersed in one of his favourite books – _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe._ “So we’ve got a little bit of time before we gotta head out – whadd’ya wanna do?”

Teddy replied by pointing to the book in his hands, so Remus got the message, and sat down next to him, pulling his own book from the shelf – _The Picture of Dorian Gray_. They didn’t move for a full hour, both too engrossed in their respective stories to move. Occasionally, Teddy would tap Remus on the shoulder, pointing a finger to a word that he didn’t understand. Remus would patiently explain it to him, then return to his own book.

When they arrived at the Potters’, a rather flustered looking James opened the door, Harry on his hip. There was flour on his face and in his hair, and something that looked akin to mushed peas on the left pane of his glasses. Harry didn’t look much cleaner; parts of his hair were matted with mashed carrots, and he had gravy spilt down his front. Lily was sat on the sofa, looking surprisingly relaxed, and clean compared to the mess that was her husband and son.

“Alright, Lupin.”

“Got a little something in your hair, James. And your glasses.” Remus greeted him.

“And on your shirt.” Teddy added, looking amused, yet somewhat disapproving.

“And you must be Teddy.” James said, kneeling in front of him, somehow balancing Harry on his knee. “I got something for you.” Digging in the pocket of his apron, he pulled out a green lollipop, then, when Harry clamoured at him, found another one (red, this time), and passed it to his son.

“What do you say, Teds?” Remus said, Teddy already having begun greedily sucking the lolly.

“Fank ‘oo.” James smiled at that, ushering them in so that he could shut the door. Remus left Teddy with James and Harry in the kitchen, and headed towards the lounge. He knew from James that Lili was having weird cravings, so he had Silverskin pickled onions and a bottle of Vimto hidden in the tote bag that he was carrying. Before he could reach the living room, however, a rather frazzled looking Sirius burst through the front door.

“Jamie! Sorry I’m late, Pete didn’t show up and–” Sirius stopped, noticing Remus stood there, looking rather shell-shocked. The door clicked shit behind him.

“Hey, Remus. Didn’t know you were coming.”

“Likewise.” Remus replied weakly. Sirius looked _gorgeous._ His hair was escaping from a loose bun, curling around his jawline. Tight black jeans hugged the curves of his legs, and a long sleeved white shirt with a wide neckline showed off his collarbones. To top it all off was a leather jacket, which made Remus go a little weak at the knees. He suddenly felt underdressed in ripped jeans, ratty trainers, and an old _Stone Roses_ t-shirt. “You, uh, you look good.”

Before Sirius could do anything but blush, Lily cut in.

“Alright Remus, keep in in your pants. Now, James tells me you have snacks, so get over here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always comments and kudos r appreciated :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got hella emotional I didn't plan it I just couldn't sleep one night and it Happened. also ik that the timeline for this fic is kinda weird but its too much effort to try and fix it at this point so just like? try and ignore it? idk my brain is mush at this point I have never had more work to do in my life lmao. ik I have said this before but I really have no idea where this is going so please just like bear with me and ill try and make this good :)
> 
> hope u all enjoy :)))))))))

“You didn’t tell me he was gonna be here!” Sirius hissed, shutting the kitchen door behind him. Looking rather frazzled, James passed Harry to Sirius, before rushing over to move a butter knife away from Teddy’s grip.

“Why’s it matter?” James asked. “Unless you _like_ him.” He added, looking ridiculously excited at the prospect.

“He’s so pretty, Jamie.” Sirius whined, leaning against the counter, pretending to fan himself. “And he’s funny and exciting and _pretty._ ”

Chuckling heartily, James gave him that look that he reserved for whenever he had ‘important’ advice to bestow upon Sirius.  “If you like him, tell him. God knows you need to get laid.”

“James, there are _children_.” Sirius feigned seriousness, taking Harry from James and balancing him on his hip; Teddy took his hand (which Sirius felt secretly delighted by), and together they left James to it.

 

* * *

 

“God, I cannot thank you enough.” Lily said, mouth full of picked onions that she had been picking out directly from the jar. “James has been so busy cooking and I…” She trailed off, gesturing to the sofa and TV.

“Eh, you’re pregnant. It’s allowed,” Remus said, leaning back on the sofa and putting an arm around Lily. “How are you doing?”

“Yeah, yeah, enough about me,” Lily waved him off excitedly, turning around to face him. “What’s going on with you and Sirius?”

“I don’t – Nothing! What are you on about?” Remus spluttered.

“Pfft, I might have known you less than two months, _Moonface_ ,” Remus winced at the unfortunate nickname Sirius had gifted him, “but I’ve known Sirius since I was twelve. He’s fallen in love more times than I can count, but it takes someone special to get him flustered like that.”

“Lils, we barely know eacho-”

“What’s his favourite colour?”

“Lily, what–”

“Just answer me,” she demanded.

“Toss-up between auburn and grey.”

“How does he take his tea?”

“Breakfast tea with a little milk, two sugars. Chamomile with honey.”

“See?” Lily smirked, “You know him just fine. Now you can, y’know, get to _know_ him,” she added, waggling her eyebrows in such a ridiculous way that Remus snorted through his laughter.

As much as he hated to admit it, she might have had a point. Lily was nosy, loud, and at times a bit much, but she made Remus laugh like few other people could. She was blunt when she needed to be, kind the rest of the time, and she never failed to greet him with a hug. She was ruthless enough that Remus knew there was no one that could beat her at Monopoly. So maybe, _maybe_ , she had a point. If he knew that _getting to know_ Sirius wouldn’t cause a rift in their relationship, he might have just gone for it. God knows he wanted to.

“Remus.” Lily’s mock-stern voice cut through his thoughts. “Stop thinking. Now, there should be some of those chilli crackers in the cupboard. Fetch.”

Remus barked obediently, chuckling as he headed for the kitchen. The rest of the dinner was surprisingly calm – peaceful, even. Harry seemed to find Teddy absolutely hilarious, giggling hysterically at every other word that left the older boy’s mouth. Sirius spent the majority of the meal tending to Harry’s every need – cutting up his food, wiping his face when inevitably split gravy over himself. He fit perfectly, Remus found himself thinking. Sirius was like a third parent to Harry, and Remus couldn’t help but smile at the easy conversation that flowed between him, James, and Lily. Anyone else, and he might be jealous of the simple friendship they all shared, but never once did Remus feel out of place, or left out. James directed his jokes towards Remus just as much he did Lily or Sirius, and more often than not, Remus looked up from his food to find Sirius focused on him.

For some reason, that was the image that stuck with him for the rest of the afternoon. Sirius, smiling at him softly over a table full of friends, all chatting and laughing. Remus found it difficult to concentrate for the rest of the week – if he wasn’t texting or calling Sirius, he was thinking about the next morning when he could walk down to the café to talk to him for five minutes. Lily – his absolute saviour – had offered to look after Teddy during the day when he was at work – INSET days really fucked up his routine – what kind of school did two in one week? He had been delighted to find out that Teddy and Harry got on wonderfully, and that, apparently, he spent more time looking after Lily than the opposite. Everything seemed, for once, to be perfectly in order. And then Wednesday happened.

* * *

 

Having woken up late, it was something of a relief for Remus to finally sit down at his desk with a steaming cup of coffee. But his relaxation was short lived; it was five minutes before classes were due to begin, when James burst in to his office, his expression somewhere between elation and utter shock.

"Alright then, mate?” Remus said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Lily – I – we gotta – hospital. Now.” Shit. Standing quickly, Remus grabbed his bag in one hand, and James’ wrist in the other, and pulled him out of the door.

“Right. Your car’s outside, right?” James nodded. “You go start it up, I’m gonna run to the office and tell them we’re leaving. Meet you back at the car, okay?”

“Yes. Fuck, okay.” James still looked extremely, yet understandably, frazzled, so Remus grabbed his shoulders, and gave him the same look he gave to Teddy when he was refusing to do his homework.

“James. You and Lily are more than prepared for this. Right now, you gotta get your shit together – you can freak out later.”

“Right,” James’ face broke out into a huge smile, “I’m having a baby.”

“Yes, you are, you absolute idiot. Now, _go_ ,” Remus said, pushing him in the direction of the carpark and himself jogging towards the office – he figured this situation surmounted the _no running in the corridors_ rule. When he reached the car, he had barely shut the door behind him before James was speeding off. Thankfully for James’ driving licence, the hospital was a very short drive away, and before he knew it, they were running into the waiting area.

“Potter. Um, my wife, she – we’re having a baby,” James rushed out, hands on the counter in front of him.

“We got a call saying Lily Potter had gone into labour. Can we see her?” Remus said, only slightly more calmly, just now realising that he had no idea where his son was.

“Certainly. She’s in the maternity ward – room 46W. And her sons are in the creche, if you’d like to see them.”

“Thank you!” Remus rushed away, running after James who was speeding towards the maternity ward.

“James!” The man in question turned, still smiling widely. “You go find Lily, I’ll grab the kids.” James just nodded in response, nearly knocking a nurse flying as he practically sprinted towards his wife.

The creche wasn’t far from the office, so Remus took the moment to walk at a normal pace – the stress and the running had left him rather out of breath. The sight he was met with on entering the creche didn’t help much. Sirius was perched on a bright blue plastic chair that was clearly built for someone two decades younger than him. His hair was pulled back into loose bun atop the crown of his head, and something that looked like Play-Doh was attached to a curl that had escaped the bun. In skinny dark jeans and a jumper that was clearly James’, he was a picture that definitely took Remus’ breath away. And that was before Remus fully took in the sight in front of him. Sirius had Harry sat on one knee, and Teddy on the other, and was taking turns with Teddy in reading aloud the book in front of them.

Remus cleared his throat, and Sirius looked up sharply.

“Papa!” Teddy yelled, running forward for Remus to pick up him.

“Alright, buddy? Having fun?”

“Yeah!” Teddy smiled, “Siri’s readin’ Narnia.”

“Is he, now?” Remus said shifting his gaze towards Sirius, who was now standing, Harry on his hip.

“Hey, no judging my reading taste. Anyway, how’s James?”

“Bit of a mess – reckon Lily will sort him out, though. He’s with her now,” Remus added, nodding his head in the direction James had run off in.

“Reckon we’re allowed in there?” Sirius asked him, eyes worried.

“Up to her, probably. They won’t let the kids in, though.”

“Right.”

“Look, mate, I can see you’re worried. Go see her, I’ll watch them.”

“Sure?” Sirius asked, already setting Harry down on the small sofa behind him. Remus just nodded in response, setting Teddy down, and picking up the book Sirius had left on the table.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Sirius said, before kissing Remus on the cheek and speeding off towards the maternity ward.

It took him a moment for it to sink in. Sirius had _kissed_ him. Kissed him. As if that was just something they did.

Well, Remus thought, maybe it was. He knew how affectionate Sirius was with James and Lily – maybe this was just Sirius being Sirius. Before Remus had a second to think on it more, he had four small hands grasping at his legs, demanding _“story, story, story!”_

Recalling Teddy’s rather complicated birth, Remus was surprised when Sirius came bouncing into the creche just three hours later. The kids were now asleep on the sofa behind him, boredom thankfully having transformed into tiredness, rather than hyperactivity.

“It’s a girl,” Sirius said quietly, his face red but smile wide.

“And they’re both okay?” Remus asked, to which Sirius nodded, wiping at his eyes a little.

“Just a bit emotional,” he muttered, and Remus pulled him in for a hug, which Sirius returned with enthusiasm, clearly needing it. “I asked one of the nurses to watch them for a sec, so you can meet her.”

Sirius pulled back, nodding to the kind-looking woman who stood rather awkwardly in the doorway.

“Perfect, let’s go.” Remus said, taking Sirius’ hand. He thanked the nurse, and they set out to go meet the newest addition to the Potter family.

When they entered the room, James was stood by Lily’s head, eyes glued to the tiny life that she held in her arms.

“Hey, guys,” Remus said softly, eyes welling up as he took in the sight before him.

“Moony!” James whispered, coming forward to hug him tightly. “How’s Harry?”

“Absolutely conked out. There’s a nurse watching them.”

“How are you, Lils?” Sirius said, walking around to the other side of the bed.

“Feel like I could sleep for a solid month,” she murmured, careful not to disturb the baby in her arms.

“Understandable.” Remus smiled. “Did you name her yet?”

“Rosa Lily Potter.”

Remus thought the name sounded perfect, and both James and Lily beamed when he voiced that. Seeing how happy – fucking _euphoric_ – they all were, had Remus so grateful. That he had gotten his shit together enough to be allowed to share this moment. Teddy had been the best thing in his life for nine years – he still was – but now Remus was starting to form a full family of his own again. So when Lily looked up at him, eyes watery but smile wide, and asked him to be godfather, he felt tears begin to well in his own eyes. And when Lily gently pressed Rosa into his arms – _Christ_ she was tiny – he made a silent vow that he would never let anything happen to her.

“Remus?” Lily sounding like she was smiling as she broke Remus out of his reverie.

“Yeah?” Remus replied quietly, his voice hoarse.

“Me and James wanted to ask… Will you be her godfather?”

That question seemed to be the one to break the dam, because suddenly it was impossible to hold his tears back. Laughing and nodding, he nodded repeatedly as Sirius’ arm came to support his waist, and he leaned into the touch. This, he thought in that moment, was happiness.

 

* * *

 

“Christ. Long day, huh?” Sirius said, plonking himself down on Remus’ sofa. Remus had just finished with putting Teddy to bed and he smiled at the domesticity of the image of Sirius on his sofa.

“Yeah. Definitely a day for the jar.”

“Jar?” Sirius inquired. Nodding towards the shelf behind him, Remus pointed out a large jar, near halfway full with folded up post-it notes of all different colours.

“Something my therapist recommended. Write it down when I have a really happy day.”

“That’s actually a really nice idea,” Sirius said, smiling. Then, nudging Remus playfully with an elbow, “Guessing the day you met me’s on there?”

“It might be,” Remus replied, playing along with far more confidence than he actually had. “Pretty good tea.”

“Just the tea?”

“Eh – the guy behind the counter was sorta cute.” Internally, Remus felt like his heart might beat right out of his chest, and he cursed his pale complexion as he felt himself warming.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. Not as funny as he thinks he is, though.”

“Oh, I think he’s funny enough,” Sirius said, his expression so deadpan that Remus couldn’t help but double over with laughter, snorting as he caught his breath.

“You have a ridiculous laugh,” Sirius noted.

“Says Mr Can’t-Laugh-Without-Crying,” said Remus, proceeding to attempt a truly awful imitation of Sirius’ laugh.

“Disgraceful.”

Remus just shrugged, leaning back against the sofa; it wasn’t all that late, but the day had been well and truly exhausting, and he could feel his eyelids beginning to get heavy already.

Before he knew it, his alarm was beeping rudely in his face. His neck was stiff, his legs numb, and he felt altogether rather disorientated.

“Fuck me, what time is it?” Sirius mumbled, shifting slightly next to Remus. Ah. Right. Clearing his throat, Remus stretched and peeled himself from the sofa.

“Six-thirty. Gotta get Teddy up for school.” Sirius mumbled a drawn out expletive in response, curling further into the sofa as Remus headed over to the counter to put the kettle on.

“Lazy arse. I’ll make coffee. You can use the shower if you want.”

Sirius nodded, heaving himself up with a grunt, and sending Remus a sleepy smile before kissing him softly – right on the mouth this time – and heading towards the bathroom. _So_ , Remus thought, _that was a thing now_.

Apparently, it was more than a thing. Sirius kissed him after handing him a coffee before work on Thursday morning. He pressed a kiss to the back of his neck when Remus was washing up after dinner – somehow Siirus had worked his way so seamlessly into his daily routine. When Sirius arrived early Sunday morning, Remus opened the door bleary-eyed, clothed in nothing more than pair of light grey tracksuit bottoms. That one had ended in a full-blown makeout session, Sirius rocking his hips against Remus’ as they kissed, before he pulled away, looking rather flustered and sheepish. Anyone else, and Remus might have felt confused – even a little uncomfortable – but somehow this felt like the most natural thing in the whole world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos always appreciated my guys


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello this chapter is early bc i'm gonna be slowing down with updates as of now bc exams coming up and I gotta revise and all that. just a quick warning - this chapter has smut, it's not too too explicit but definitely nsfw (a reminder that Sirius is trans and remus is hiv positive). also there is some description of child abuse, again not too much detail but its still there. ive marked these sections out, so feel free to skip if you want. also ive relaised that this whole fic is just self indulgent shite there is 0 plot but hope you enjoy :))

“She seems really nice – funny,” Sirius remarked, following Remus into the kitchen after Dora and Teddy had departed. It was a small room – worn wooden floorboards, small cupboards with mismatching handles, and used mugs lying around. Sirius couldn’t help but see a little bit of James in it. Maybe that was why he found himself so drawn to Remus.

“Yeah, she is, y’know. There’s a reason why we were together so long.” Sirius hummed in response, happily accepting a cup of chamomile tea from Remus.

“Chamomile? Took you for more of a coffee kinda guy.” Sirius said, smirking as he gestured to the mug.

“Yeah, well. I’ve been sleeping a wee bit better recently – don’t wanna risk that by being an idiot and drinking coffee at 8 in the evening.”

“That’s fair enough,” Sirius replied, taking a sip. Warming, with a hint of honey – perfect. “God, this is _good_ ,” he said, breathing in deeply.

“Need a moment alone?” Remus joked, leaning back against the counter. His glasses were steamed up slightly from the tea, and his cheeks ever so lightly flushed. Sirius thought it made his freckles stand out more.

“Jesus, this tastes like magic.”

“Yeah, I’m secretly a wizard,” Remus scoffed.

“Y’know – me and my brother used to believe in wizards when we were little,” said Sirius.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Sirius chuckled into his mug, “James’ dad had all these crazy stories – a wizarding school somewhere up in Scotland. He even made us wands.”

“Sounds like fun. Better than my dad’s crazy old hunting stories.”

“Right,” Sirius laughed, taking a sip of his tea before his smile fell slightly, turning from amused to nostalgic in a matter of seconds. “Yeah, I – We spent a lot of time with the Potters’ when we were younger. My parents are, um, old-fashioned.”

**** CHILD ABUSE TW ****

“Somehow I’d guessed that,” Remus said softly, moving closer to Sirius and nudging him with a shoulder. “You don’t have to go into it. I get shitty parents.”

“The HIV thing?” Sirius asked, cringing at his own tactlessness. He went to apologise, but Remus waved him off.

“Nah, apart from that, I’m pretty much perfect, y’know.”

“You got that one right,” Sirius muttered.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing,” Sirius mumbled, then sighed, changing the subject. “Y’know, I don’t think I ever really had parents until I met James’. My birth ones were – they were bad even before I came out.”

“That must’ve been shit,” Remus said, frowning hard with somber eyes.

“Eh, I managed. But yeah it was – messy handwriting, slap upside the head. Didn’t finish my food? No dinner for a week. I dropped a plate once and she made pick up every single piece by hand until my fingers were shredded. Y’know, normal things for a five-year-old.”

“Christ, Sirius.”

“I was, what – seven, maybe? When I fully realised that I wasn’t a girl. I didn’t know what that feeling _was_ , I just knew that what I looked like and what people saw me as wasn’t _me._ When I figured out what trans was it was like my head was clear for the first time in years.”

“Sirius, you – you don’t have to tell me all this. I get it.”

Sirius just shook his head; somehow he wanted Remus to know.

“Nah, it’s cool. So, yeah, I came out to James first, then his parents. I told you we went to this old-ass boarding school, right? Yeah, well James’ parents came up that weekend, demanded I be allowed in the boy’s dorms.” Sirius chuckled, remembering the moment. He had been _terrified_ at the time, but looking back – Euphemia had been 5ft of utter rage, pointing fingers at the headmaster and demanding that her boy, her _son_ , be treated right. “I’ve never seen Euphemia that mad in my life.”

“She sounds like a force to be reckoned with, that woman.”

“You aren’t wrong. Yeah, so that’s how my parents found out. Guess one of my cousins snitched or something. She made me come home – I was fifteen at this point, by the way – and she-”

“Beat the living shit out of you?” Remus guessed, looking angrier that Sirius had ever seen him.

“Yeah. Three broken ribs. Fractured elbow. Concussion, the works. Got a pretty cool scar, actually.” Sirius moved his hand to lift his shirt, when he was enveloped by a sudden warm presence. Remus had one arm tight around his waist, and the other at his shoulder pulling him closer.

**** END OF CHILD ABUSE TW ****

“Hey, Rems, it’s – I’m over it. It was a long time ago.” Sirius said, his voice muffled in Remus’ chest.

“I know, I just–” Sounding frustrated, Remus pulled back for just a second, eyes boring into Sirius’ before pulling him forward by the collar of his shirt and kissing him roughly.

If Remus John Lupin didn’t have his shit together, he might have been worried about where to put his hands, whether he should be doing this, but all he could think about was how _good_ Sirius felt against him. Sirius pulled back all too soon, hands still grasping at Remus’ hips.

“Fuck, I–” Sirius breathed out, eyes wide.

“Yeah, that was–”

“Can we do that again?”

**** SMUT WARNING ****

Remus responded by pulling him closer, hands still fisted in Sirius’ shirt as he kissed him deeply, gasping ever so slightly as Sirius ground his hips forward. Fuck. Remus pulled back for one moment, helping Sirius up on to the counter, before nudging his knees apart and stepping in even closer. The kiss was heated – more tongue and teeth than anything else, hands flying as they moved together, trying to get that little bit closer. It wasn’t long before they were giggling their way toward the sofa, muttered jokes between kisses.

“I didn’t realise you had so many freckles,” Sirius muttered, pupils blown wide.

“Didn’t realise you were such a dork,” Remus replied breathlessly. It had been ages – _too fucking long_ – since he’d done anything like this and he was dangerously close to coming in his pants like when he was a teenager. Sirius proved his point even further by grinding his hips down and pressing gentle kisses down his jaw, making it harder and harder for Remus to stay quiet.

“We shouldn’t-” Remus groaned quietly as Sirius’ hands found their way to his belt. “Sirius –”

“Yeah?” Sirius sounded annoyingly nonplussed by the whole situation, while Remus felt like the room was about five times too hot.

“We should, uh,” Remus sat up, pushing Sirius up with him, “we should go – go bedroom.”

Chuckling, Sirius nodded somewhat frantically, practically leaping from the sofa, dragging Remus by the hand in the direction of the bedroom. Sirius, Remus would later find out, was as loud in bed as he was the rest of the time; in the end, he had had to bite down on Remus’ shoulder as he rode him slowly, forearms framing Remus’ head. By comparison, Remus was much quieter, letting out the occasional grunt whenever Sirius ground down particularly hard, hands grasping at Sirius’ hips. Remus would also find out that night that Sirius particularly liked it when Remus bit his lip as they kissed, and he groaned loudly when Remus gripped his hips hard enough to bruise. But perhaps his favourite thing that he discovered that night, was what is was like to fall asleep next to Sirius, comfy and sated.

 

“Morning,” Sirius murmured, rolling over to face Remus as the sun rose the next morning.

“Shit,” Remus groaned, burying his face in the pillow, “fucking time ‘s it?”

“Early bird catches the worm,” Sirius sounded, in Remus’ opinion, far too fucking chipper for this early on a Sunday morning. All Remus wanted to do was burrow even farther into the bed and sleep for another four hours at the very _least_. Well, that was true until he heard the sheets rustle before gasping at the sensation of Sirius’ hand working between his legs.

“Mmf _fuck_.” Remus seemed unable to articulate any form of response and his eyelids fluttered shut as his hands fisted in the sheets.

“Good?”

“Don’t fuckin’ stop – _Christ._ ” This, Remus had decided, was hands-down the best way to wake up ever, and suddenly he didn’t care that he was up at sunrise on a Sunday morning, because _fuck_ that felt good. It wasn’t long before his back was arching and his muscles tensing as he came, his morning getting somehow _better_ when Sirius let him jack him off in the shower.

**** END OF SMUT WARNING ****

“Mm, gotta open up the café,” Sirius said around a mouthful of toast, hair still damp from their shared shower.

“Want me to come with?”

“I should just give you a job at this rate.”

“Much as I’d like to,” Remus shook his head, smiling, “gotta make sure James doesn’t miss his lessons.”

“And children to teach.”

“Mm, that too. Little shits.” Remus responded, eliciting a giggle from Sirius. Less than half an hour later, Remus found himself figuring out the complicated coffee machine as Sirius smoothly dealt with the onslaught of guests looking for hot drinks and breakfast. He’d be pissed off that he was doing extra work for free, but Sirius’ frequent smiles in his direction more than made up for it, even as he fucked up yet another cappuccino. He wished the public would stick to black coffee. The breakfast rush hour passed surprisingly quickly, but it gave Remus a newfound respect for café workers – seemingly, the majority of the general public had no idea when it came to basic politeness. That view was cemented when a greasy-haired man, clad in a full-length black coat entered the café.

“My usual.” He demanded – if Remus was at school he would have reprimanded the lack of _please_  or _thank you_.

“Sorry,” Remus replied with as polite a voice as he could muster, “I’m new – what can I get for you?”

The man looked almost disgusted by Remus’ response, grunting his order with the king of all sneers. Remus made sure to give him one of the staler muffins that had been sat out since last night, and handed it to him with a simpering politeness.

“Ugh, him again?” Sirius said once the greasy-haired man had left.

“Is he always that fucking rude?”

“Yeah. I give him the stale muffins.”

“Can I kiss you?” Remus asked, flooded by a rush if affection for the man in front of him. Sirius responded by pushing himself up on his tip-toes and pressing a light kiss to the other man’s lips.

“You can kiss me whenever.”

“Good,” Remus murmured against Sirius’ lips, before the latter was whisked away to deal with yet more annoying customers.

 

Monday came far too soon, and Remus had less than a minute of quiet before James burst into his office, voice way, _way_ too fucking loud for less than five hours of sleep.

“I fucking _knew_ it.” He said, grin wide as he dumped his bag on Remus’ desk and sat in the chair opposite him. His glasses kept sliding down his nose, but that didn’t seem to faze him, his view entirely focused on Remus’ expression.

“Huh?” Remus replied, taking a sip of his coffee to hide his smirk.

“Sirius! And you – you and Sirius.”

“Yeah I, uh, I guess that’s a thing.” Remus might have sounded nonchalant (to his own ears, anyway), but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“You two are perfect together.” James smiled, the bags under his eyes dark, but expression light. “Okay, I’m sorry to ask but I gotta-”

“I know exactly what you’re gonna ask,” Remus chuckled, “and I know for a fact that you aren’t bloody sorry at all, Potter.”

“Yeah, yeah – c’mon, how is he in the sack?”

Remus pretended to consider for a moment before answering. “Fucking _amazing_.”

 

 

It felt like Lily had barely fallen asleep when the screeching cries of a new-born echoed throughout the apartment, quickly followed by the sound of her ridiculous husband rolling out of bed and on to the floor. Muffling her laugh in the pillow, she turned over and squeezed her eyes shut as James turned the light on low.

“Mmf bright. Why.” James just groaned in response as he rocked the crying baby, trying his best to coax her back to sleep. Contrary to their usual nightly routine, it took less than twenty minutes for her to begin snoring again, at which point James practically collapsed back into bed, disrupting Lily’s daze. She checked the alarm clock on the bedside table – 3:17am. What in the fuck had made her think it was a good idea to have another kid? Despite her feeling like she hasn’t slept in aeons, the tiny snores radiating from the tiny cot next to her made her smile.

“Got news,” James murmured into the pillow, before shifting to face Lily.

“Can it wait ‘til mornin’?”

“Rems and Pads are shagging.”

“What?” Lily said, slightly louder than she probably should have, considering the sleeping Rosa less than three feet from her.

“Uh-huh.”

“So how’s Sirius in-”

“’Fucking amazing’ apparently. Neither of them could stop smiling – it’s ridiculous.” James added, although he couldn’t help but smile at his wife as he thought about how truly happy his best friends were.

“Knew I missed a chance on that one.” Lily said, only laughing when James turned and whacked her in the face with a pillow. Twenty minutes later, and James was asleep, his head rested on Lily’s chest as she listened to the snores coming from both her husband and her daughter, she couldn’t help but think that she might never have been happier in her entire life.

 

It seemed that James must have subconsciously agreed with the sentiment, because he couldn’t shut up about Lily his _entire_ lunch break, and where Sirius would usually have found it sweet, he found it somewhat irritating when he had his own guy to gush about. Fuck – who knew they’d get to be here ten years ago? At eighteen, Sirius was pierced, tattooed, and hadn’t spoken to the Black family in three years. He had started T when he was eighteen, under the guidance of Mr and Mrs Potter, and finally – _finally_ – gotten top surgery less than a year later. He’d never have guessed ten years later he’d be this happy; he had his own business, a godson, and a loving relationship. And, of course, James was still by his side. With a wife and two kids of his own – he was even part of the fucking PTSA. With his red jumpers and button-up shirts, he really did look the part of a suburban dad of two, unlike Sirius who had never fully been able to let go of his teenage years; he still wore leather more days than he didn’t, and the urge to get yet another tattoo resurfaced every few months. To be fair though, it wasn’t like James had changed all too much either; even as a teenager his style had consisted mostly of button-downs and smart-ish jeans, thanks to his parents. Ever the sap, Sirius found himself suddenly overcome by a veritable wave of nostalgia.

“You, Jamie Potter,” Sirius began dramatically, stepping forward to hug James, “are a fucking awesome human being.”

“I know, right?” James replied, quite used to Sirius’ rather emotional antics. “Deserve a bloody award.”

“How about a proper fancy coffee for _mon chou_?”

“I thought we’d agreed to stop with that nickname, Siri – doesn’t it mean cauliflower or something?”

“Cabbage,” Sirius corrected, “and you know you love it when I speak French.”

“Not as much as Remus, I’m sure.”

Sirius just smirked in response, “hazelnut or vanilla syrup, _trésor_?”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments/kudos always appreciated :)


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